With the Blockchain Training Alliance, Every Business Has a Distributed Use Case

There
is a blockchain use case in virtually every business, and a California-based
training company is offering intensive, private training events to help
businesses accelerate adoption and seize the lead.

Ernesto
Lee, CTO and a founding partner of California-based Blockchain Training Alliance, tells
Distributed.com, “Blockchain is not just a new technology where you can write an
application on the internet; it is equivalent to the internet. There is
tremendous disruptive power, and businesses are creating their own internets
that are hyperfocused on business use cases.”

Blockchain
technology can solve the most critical problems in business, such as trust and
security, according to Lee. For example, it applies the kind of immutability
and transparency that is needed to protect investors from predators such as
Bernie Madoff, who falsified financial reports to bilk clients out of more than
$10 billion.

“If you invest with a company that tracks your money on a
blockchain, you can see where every penny goes and have complete accountability
at all times,” Lee said.

Governments
around the world are already using blockchain technology for Know Your Customer
(KYC) and identity management, and companies such as uPort are
marketing user-centric identity control platforms that enable consumers to
protect personal information proactively.

“Soon
blockchain will be everywhere and expected everywhere,” Lee said. “It was only
in late 2017 that most blockchain specifications introduced lightweight options
that allowed cellphones or tablets as nodes. Mobile blockchain apps are just
getting started, and explosive acceleration is coming soon.”

Consumer-Friendly Properties

Blockchain
technology’s decentralization can offer far greater security than the internet,
according to Lee. While a company that relies on centralized servers can be
laid low by a single successful distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack, blockchain
technology’s peer-to-peer architecture and distributed ledger can make a
network virtually impervious.

“The more people that use the network, the more
secure it becomes natively,” Lee explained. “That doesn’t mean it won’t be attacked and
a node compromised, but the distributed architecture accounts for that, which
makes hacking economically unviable. The built-in SHA-256 encryption is twice
what the CIA recommends, so even if you hack a single node, you haven’t accomplished
much.”

As
companies look closely at blockchain technology, new cases proliferate rapidly.
Government entities such as fishery regulators see opportunities to make
seafood completely traceable from source to consumption. Transportation companies
such as LaZooz see opportunities to outperform recent
disruptors such as Uber. Manufacturers see the ability to authenticate every
part of a complex finished product such as a motor vehicle.

The
motor vehicle use case illustrates the values a blockchain can deliver to
multiple parties in a business ecosystem. During manufacturing, the network can
make the supply chain and assembly line more efficient and track provenance on
every part. Post-sale, a blockchain can log all transactions and monitor
onboard data recorders for events, which provides greater transparency for owners,
buyers, regulators, finance companies and insurers.

The
cloud computing model that is now permeating business and consumer technology
is yet another disruption target. Blockchain-based businesses like Storj
and SingularityNET are brokering
storage, computing and artificial intelligence among peer networks on
blockchains.

“A company like Storj can provide cloud storage for less because
they sell peer-to-peer without the middleman,” Lee said.

Use Cases Are Everywhere

Any
use case for blockchain technology has four essential elements: a network,
actors, assets and transactions, according to Lee. “There is not a single
industry that does not have those elements, and there are clever people who
don’t want their company to be the next Blockbuster, and they are building use
cases now.”

Blockchain
Training Alliance helps businesses explore their opportunities with three types
of training: remote via WebEx, public classes offered in large cities and
private retreats.

“We
recommend Blockchain Training: An Overview
for Professionals to everyone and suggest that they explore the two main
options for business applications, which are Ethereum and Hyperledger,” Lee
explained.

Five instructor-led courses are available now, focused on business
overview, Ethereum, Hyperledger, security
and architecting.

“The
private training events are our bread and butter,” Lee said.

Many businesses
want a full immersion for their teams, and the Alliance satisfies them with private,
weeklong events where teams explore use cases and compare blockchain options.

“We
identify the actors, the assets, and the nature of their transactions and see
how they can cut costs, reduce friction on transaction, and eliminate middlemen,”
Lee said.